Ever since the Modi government abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, Pakistan has lost sanity and has started behaving in a diplomatically untenable manner. Its top political leadership including Prime Minister Imran Khan have been making some of the most outlandish statements in a bid to garner attention and somehow rake up the Kashmir issue.
Pakistan’s behaviour has been outrightly erratic and reached the point from where it cannot be expected to return to normalcy. Initially, Pakistan started with the objectionable efforts to internationalise the abrogation of the outdated provision, a matter internal to India’s affairs. However, it soon went into overdrive making some of the worst possible violent threats over an issue unilateral to India’s constitutional position.
Ever since the abrogation of the constitutional provision that granted special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Imran Khan suffered a major meltdown. He has been attacking anything and everything about India over the issue of Jammu and Kashmir including Hindus, Hindutva, RSS and PM Modi. On the policy front as well, Pakistan showed signs of both provocation and hostility.
It started by snapping trade ties, downgrading diplomatic relations and stopping road and rail routes between the two countries. It was followed by an episode of heavy mobilisation on Pakistan’s part, reactivation of Balakot terror training camp and lining up of terrorists along the LoC. Things went as far as Pakistan extending nuclear threat over the Kashmir issue.
Now, with Imran Khan’s UNGA address, an hour-long tirade against India which included rather provocative statements unbecoming of a political leader for which Pakistan will have to ultimately incur heavy diplomatic costs, Pakistan has shown that it is in no mood to stop the ongoing escalation of tensions unilaterally triggered by it. And all this is being done only out of the terrorist country’s frustration over the abrogation of Article 370.
India, on the other hand, has also aggravated Pakistan’s desperation and frustration over the issue of Kashmir. India has made it clear that Kashmir is not even on its agenda in international and multilateral engagements.
India has also made it clear that when it comes to Kashmir, any possible dialogue will have to be restricted to Pakistan occupied Kashmir and that India’s recent move on Kashmir is India’s internal matter warranting absolutely interference by any other country.
Despite Pakistan’s erratic behaviour and provocative statements coming right from the top of Pakistani leadership including its PM Imran Khan who has been speaking in an extremely bellicose language and has even threatened “bloodbath” and another Pulwama like an attack in Kashmir, the Indian government has maintained its composure.
India has effectively countered Pakistan’s out of the way comments through soft diplomacy and when it comes to Khan’s provocative remarks, PM Modi has not even replied to them which shows Imran Khan his place.
India has thus sent across a strong signal. While the issue of Kashmir is everything for Pakistan, it doesn’t even form a part of India’s international narrative, since the region lawfully forms an integral part of India’s territory.